Wings
by Free-Yourself-x
Summary: She always knew Neji was dying, but the scars still feel fresh. [Drabble]


_"To live in hearts we leave behind __is not to die." - **Thomas Campbell **_

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><p>She would never tell anyone, but Tenten always expected that Neji would die young—before any of them and perhaps even their sensei. She was always waiting for that day to happen, but when it finally did, waiting had not made the situation any less tragic or painful.<p>

When they had first become a team, Tenten had always wondered why Neji distanced himself from them. On missions and during training, Team Gai was the epitome of perfect teamwork. After them, however, Neji secluded himself and seemed particularly coldhearted towards them. Lee had always pressured the Hyuga to join them on outings—rambling on about youth and friendship, but Neji constantly rejected him. They didn't understand until Gai sat them down and explained the ideology that Neji's uncle had drilled into his head: He existed only to protect his cousin and sacrifice his life for her, be it necessary. It was possible, Gai explained, that Neji did not distance himself from the team because he disliked them. Rather, he feared attachment; he could not allow himself to get close to others when he could possibly be ripped away from them at any given moment.

Tenten had always found it sad that Neji hadn't allowed himself to live his life—severing bonds and isolating his emotions from the world. She hadn't known when the day would come that Neji would need to take Hinata's place in death's wretched grip, but she wanted to make his life happy. Though it never looked like it to others, the Hyuga became one of the most selfless people that Tenten had ever known. His decisions were made carefully and deliberately—always centered around the wellbeing of the people in his life.

Tenten misses that about him.

"I have braced myself for this moment since the day he was born," Hiashi says suddenly, catching Tenten's attention and bringing her back to the present. They are sitting in front of Neji's grave. They've been here for ten minutes, and this is the first time that someone has spoken. "Nothing," the Hyuga leader whispers. "_Nothing _could have ever truly prepared me. I thought I could have prevented it. I thought I could have changed things. I thought I wouldn't have to watch my own nephew die like I watched my brother die. When I put that curse mark on his forehead, I took away his life."

"It's more than that," Tenten responds, shuffling her feet awkwardly. "Neji was a martyr for the war, and he chose to do what he did of his own free will. Even if you'd found a way to remove his curse mark, Neji still would have given his life for Hinata and Naruto. I know he would have."

Hiashi nods, but does not speak. Tenten thinks about how Neji flew in front of their comrades in the blink of an eye—arms spread out wide like a bird whose wings were no longer clipped. The sight almost made up for the horrific sound of branches splitting and ribs cracking that echoed through the battlefield. _Almost._

"I miss him," she admits, reaching forward to touch his gravestone. Her heart aches. She misses her best friend. She misses his beautiful brown hair—long strands of silk draping over his back and framing his thin face. She misses his big lilac eyes and his crooked smile. She misses her sparring partner and her only companion and confidant in the midst of Lee and Gai's outrageous behavior. She misses Team Gai as it was meant to be—a flawless taijutsu-based team of four who balanced each other out more than they would have liked to admit or honestly ever realized. She misses the way his quiet, reserved persona shattered to bits when impassioned. She misses purposefully taking the long way back home from training and enjoying each other's company. She misses wondering if the kiss they shared just prior to the beginning of the war would turn into something more—when he took her face in his hands and said, "Please be careful."

Hiashi sighs gently.

"I miss him as well."

Neji had hated the thought of being nothing more than an extra life for Hinata—a duty he had been forced into abiding by since the fragile age of four. He had despised the thought of his life being reduced to nothing more than spare parts, and yet, he had always followed through with his obligation to protect her. But Neji, freed from the shackles of his doomed fate years later, had no longer felt that he had to give up his precious life for Hinata.

He did it anyway.

And Neji's silent, everlasting love and devotion towards his comrades, family, and friends is what Tenten misses about him the most.


End file.
